I think I'm getting slower each month, but it's still done, and that's what counts, right? I finished up July this last weekend and am just getting around to posting it. It was a busy month! Lots of pages... lots of great memories :)

Again, 6x8 Studio Calico Handbook. Lots of Studio Calico kit products and PL cards, also some of the Project Life cards I've made recently. I'll be making more for sure!

(The pictures of the 4th aren't as dark in real life - you can see them pretty clearly.)

This month is probably going to be just as busy... I'm trying to mentally prepare for the photo editing ahead in hopes that I'll tackle it sooner next month. lol.

Well, I was a little later than I wanted to be getting this together, but the beginning of the month was super crazy! But I finished it up the other night and finally got some pictures so I can post it.

Here's June in a nutshell!

(The little monster on the left is a sticker I got a the booth where I bought my monster - Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn. I wanted to include him but he didn't fit on a page and I stuck it there for a second to get him out of the way and liked it. I'll see if he stays... the backing is still on for now.)

And you may have noticed the top card on this last page - my Summer To-Do List. I made this digitally with elements from Gennifer Bursett's Scarlet Letter papers and elements.

Note the 2nd and 3rd items... that's part of why things got so crazy there for a while. My company is opening an office in Chicago as the headquarters for our new global digital team, which I am now on. At first they asked me to move there, and then they realized that I'm going to be 95% virtual regardless of where I work, so they decided not to put me through a relocation (which also saves them a ton of money!) Fortunately, I had a feeling that I shouldn't start doing anything for the move until they finalized everything and made the official announcement. So no worries! I think it would have been a great adventure, and I'm not ruling out having it happen at some point, but for now I get to stay in Connecticut which is great. I've started to meet people here and I love being so close to my family, so I think it's a win-win. Now I can focus on the rest of my list... and can I tell you how excited I am for the Donna Downey weekend next week? I'm taking 3 of the 4 workshops and I'm already starting to get my supplies ready. I can't wait!

The flying of time notwithstanding, I did fit in keeping my Project Life book up to date. January - April filled a book, so I started a new one - another 6x8, but a Studio Calico Handbook this time. Here are the spreads for last month:

Highlights: too many cupcakes (but delicious!), Skyping my mom's birthday party, some really good burgers, fun crafty classes including gelli printing and getting into Zentangle, Angela, Steve and the kids coming up from NYC to play (the PEZ factory!), changes at work (ongoing...), and some good books and movies. It was a good month!

I've been using National Scrapbook Day to do a little scrapping. April's project life is done! And I even started May!

So without further ado, here are the pages for last month... plus one that I decided to add to the end of March. Not really that many, but it all evens out.

(I didn't realize that the "O" had fallen off before the photo until I was editing these. I found it and stuck it back in after I took pictures, but I'm too lazy to re-do it. But it's there!)I also did a layout for 2 of the challenges at Studio Calico - one to use buttons, and one was to use 5 patterned papers on the layout.

The lighting was bad when I took the pictures last night, but you get the idea. A few close-ups:

That's it for now! I'd like to do more of the challenges, but with this and the mixed media night I went to on Thursday, I may have hit my limit for now. lol. We'll see, I guess!

Finished another month! I'm on a roll. Although I have a lot of photos for April, so I'll probably get a bit behind again over the next few weeks, but this is the most caught up I've been in a long time! (Ignoring the fact that I haven't finished my book with August-November of 2012 yet. Take the wins where you can get them!)

So with that, here are the Project Life pages for March:

I really love doing this format (6x8). I love that I can be creative where I want or just use photos and journaling cards. I love being able to just stick in inserts, and not feeling like I have to be tied to a certain layout or number of pages per week... I used a lot of space here for Easter weekend and I don't think I would have doing the 2-page 12x12 spread for each week. I'm glad I found something that works really well for me.

And now, I may start printing photos for April before the month is even over. Getting crazy over here!

I know. Not only two posts in a month, two posts in a week. Getting crazy here. (And probably won't post again until mid-May. lol.)

Discovered that my cold came with a double dose of pink eye... been house-bound since Saturday, with the exception of a trip to the doctor. But I'm contagion free as of today and should be back in the office tomorrow. Good thing! I hate working on my laptop without my mouse (#firstworldproblems) and tomorrow's the Muse concert, so it's a good thing my body's cooperating on timing! But let's face it. I would have risked giving half of New England pink eye to be at that show. lol. Glad it won't come to that.

In the meantime, I finished most of February's Project Life pages over the weekend... put the finishing touches on the last ones last night.

Without further ado:

During the month, I found a quote on Instagram that I loved, so I took a screenshot and saved it in my photo stream and then printed it to go on the back of my journaling. Also included a big envelope to hold the Valentine's cards and notes.

During February, I also signed up and put down the deposit for my next trip - I'm headed out on a 3 week adventure to South-East Asia early next year and so I included the travel package they sent with the trip overview and information and added a little journaling to the envelope.

Last page is just some random, everyday shots of little things. (I adore that letterpress card from Kelly Purkey on the left... I almost didn't use it but decided to fight my hoarding instincts for once.)

That's it! Thinking I might start editing and printing photos for March tonight. We'll see... that might be too much productivity in such a short time period.

It's time for my monthly blog post! lol. I've had a terrible time keeping up - I've been busy or traveling or sick or whatever, so I've decided to not worry about it and just pop in to update when I can.

Last week I was able to fly down to Virginia for the weekend to visit the family for Easter. It was a quick trip, but I was so glad to go - I haven't been home for Easter for 7-8 years, and I haven't ever been able to spend it with the kids, so this was really fun. We hunted eggs and played and watched movies and everything. And you know I've been able to go home a lot when I didn't even go to Wegman's! Anyway, here's one of my favorite photos from the weekend:

We had a little hug fest. I was mobbed. It was cute.

This week I've been busy at work and sick on top of it - I don't know if I caught it before I went home or got it while I was there or on the plane or some combination, but I'm feeling better... hoping it goes away quickly so I'll be ready to go see Muse next weekend! In the meantime, I've been listening to General Conference this weekend. We don't get it on TV here in Connecticut (at least not on cable), so I've been watching the sessions on my computer in my scrap room. While listening, I've started catching up on this year's Project Life. I'm doing a paper version this year, working in a 6x8 album. The one for the first part of the year is a Simple Stories album and page protectors. Supplies are mostly from Studio Calico kits with some Seafoam, some digital Midnight PL kits, and some Kelly Purkey from Simon Says Stamp.

Title page:

I decided not to try and do weekly this year. It was too much last year and I moved away from it at the end of the summer when moving to CT and starting the new job got to be too much. I like this a lot better - I'm doing it kind of like I do my travel journals - just sticking stuff in the binder and using the divided page protectors. I'm liking it so far.

Here are the pages for January:

I also managed to get all of the February photos printed and put into pages. I'm working on adding the journaling and doing a little embellishing. I might have to stop after that... I wouldn't want to do anything crazy like get caught up. lol.

Three months ago today, I moved into my little house here in Connecticut. It's kind of crazy to me that it's only been three months... it seems like so much longer to me! I think it's because I felt so settled here so quickly... normally I wouldn't be this comfortable in such a short period of time. I feel like it's all just confirmation that I made the right choice to come here. Don't get me wrong... it hasn't all been sunshine and roses. I've had some ups and downs, especially over the last few weeks as I went through a few growing pains. As comfortable and fun as it's been overall, there has still been a bit of an adjustment. But on the whole, it's been awesome.

Since I moved here, I haven't spent a whole lot of time in my craft room. But I really wanted to try and get my inspiraton and motivation back and start working on projects again. I've done a few things here and there, but nothing consistent. In an attempt to get myself going, I uploaded a ton of photos to Persnickety Prints and had them printed and shipped to me several weeks ago. I decided I wanted to switch from digital Project Life and go to something that's more *me.* I've realized that the mini album format appeals to me the most, but after I got the prints, I just started to feel totally overwhelmed and I kept stalling each time I tried to pull it out. Then I remembered that a few months ago I'd signed up for the Divide and Conquer class at 2 Peas - a class on making mini albums with divided page protectors. Since that's the main format I wanted to use, I pulled the out the class handouts and started going through them. It broke everything down for me in a way that helped me stop being so overwhelmed, and I'm excited to be making progress!

I've been working on and off this week... so far I've gotten all of the photos organized and placed in the album roughly where I want them (more than 3 months worth!), put in all the memorabilia I've collected, and now I'm going back through and adding the journaling. Next I'll add in patterned paper and then go through again and embellish. I'm having fun again! I'm also really looking forward to the finished product. But I think the best part of the project has been going back through the photos starting with my interviews in July and realizing how blessed I've been and recognizing how much awesome stuff has happened in such a short time. It's been super cathartic.

Anyway. I'll post the album after I finish it.

In the meantime... having a bit more fun this week. It's actually been pretty jam-packed as everyone here is getting ready for the holidays. We've had a few celebrations at work - a surprise baby shower for one of the girls I work with and also a birthday party for Craig. His birthday isn't until after Thanksgiving, but he's going to be out of town so we wanted to make sure we celebrated before he left. We had a department party at work - bacon themed, of course, and ordered Chinese food (delicious!). Then last night Cassi, Steve, Ryan and I took him to dinner at a fabulous Italian place here in town.

I splurged on steak with gorgonzola sauce and truffled potatoes. Soooo good. This place is definitely going on our repeat list!

It was also fun this last week to reconnect with my friend Angela (we were good friends in Virginia but haven't seen each other for years!) - I didn't know I knew anyone close by, but she's down in New York... we're already making plans to meet up in the next few weeks to have a play day. I can't wait! And I'm also finally starting to meet people at church, and I'm looking forward to broadening my circle here.

Anyway. That's the update :) Here's to an awesome three months, and many more great ones to come!

I decided to take a little break from PL layouts... I'm back behind again, but it was a good break. I took off last weekend and went home to Virginia for a few days - spending the whole weekend and then working from my parent's house Monday and Tuesday before driving home early Wednesday morning and going straight to work. It was a great break and so good to see everyone, hang out, and relax. I still haven't taken my pictures off the camera, but I'll get there eventually.

In the meantime, I put together another digital Project Life layout while I listen to General Conference. Here's week 37:

I've already blogged most of these pictures, so I'm just doing a drive-by posting before I get back to conference. All the digital elements are from Gennifer Bursett at Design House Digital.

My weeks have been getting really busy after Tuesday, it seems. Lots going on... busy at work, out having fun when I can. I was super busy yesterday and have been working on and off today as I'm working on hitting a deadline for a project I've been busy with this week. But I'm still enjoying it and really like what I'm doing. It really just continues to get better which is awesome.

I had a little time this evening so I decided to knock out another catch-up Project Life layout. Here's week 36 - Labor Day week with my parents visiting for the weekend, and then a few more tidbits from the week.

I really just used a huge mash-up of stuff from different designers, kits, shops, etc... kind of a different look this week, but change is good, right?

So now I'm only technically one week behind, although this is the end of week 38 so hopefully this next week I can do the last 2 weeks and catch up. Wouldn't that be nice? I've been playing with paper a bit too, so hopefully I can post something soon.

In the meantime, I'll leave you with my favorite photo from this last week:

We went out to a taco bar here in town on Thursday night and were having fun with the cameras on our phones - we were all looking each other up on Instagram and following each other, taking pictures, etc... Craig declared no faces for this one but I just love that Ryan was peeking. lol.

Oh. and the tacos were pretty good, but overpriced. I was glad we tried it, though... we had a great time too :)

I might actually catch up! Sometime. Hopefully. lol. (Am I really only 2 weeks behind now?) I got home from work a little while ago and wasn't ready to eat so I put together a super fast layout. We've got a big storm coming in tonight and I wanted to get it done and shut down the computer before it hits. I'm not totally in love with how it came out, but I like it well enough to call it good.

So here's week 35:

My second week of work with our eCommerce team happy hour. Apparently it was a big eating week! At least that's all I took pictures of. (We see where food ranks in my life. Not that it's a surprise. lol.) Mom and Dad also drove up that Friday night and we went out a lot while they were here. I didn't get a lot of pictures, so I added a lot of journaling to cover the gaps in the photos.

For the layout, I used a template from Tiffany Tillman and kits from Gennifer Bursett and Audrey Neal at Design House Digital. They're linked in my gallery post.

Yeah, more than two days in a row just wasn't going to happen. lol. Not that I wasn't planning to go for it, but I got derailed. I'll share more on that in a minute, but first... another layout I managed to finish tonight. This is week 34 - my first week at my new job and unpacking the house. Not a lot of photos, but plenty going on!

All of the digital elements are from Design House Digital - there's a big mix of kits here, so you can see all of them linked in my gallery post.

And as for how I got derailed? Well last Wednesday we were going to have a little team meeting - just lunch and work off-site for about 2 hours. But then my boss decided that we needed to go full-on off-site so we took off at lunch to change clothes. We each picked up a few things at the store and met at his house, which happens to be right on the water. It was gorgeous. Craig bar-b-qued some steak tips and asparagus that we had with bread and Irish butter. That was lunch. Ryan and I worked on stuff on the easel while he cooked, but we were all chipping in. We got a lot done and had great food and worked some more. Then Craig cooked up some pork tenderloin and baked potatoes. Then we worked some more and took frequent breaks to pull out our phones and take pictures of the sunset. At one point I got a picture of both of them taking pictures - it was funny. And gorgeous.

Then Craig snapped this one of Ryan and I finishing up for the night.

This doesn't suck.

So after I got home, it was almost 8 and I was pretty done. We'd worked all afternoon and evening, but also had a great time. We all get along really well and just have fun together which is awesome.

Then Thursday night we went out after work to a place that's been on our list for a while - a wine bar down by the water called Ballou's that also has a great menu. I had a cranberry spritzer and we sampled several things from the menu.

(Since it was Thursday, Cassi was in town and another girl from the team joined us as well). I have to say, the bacon mac 'n cheese was pretty tasty, but the real winner of the night was the chicken, bacon, gorgonzola pizza. That stuff rocked. Then Craig, Ryan, Cassi and I headed across the street to a bar we really enjoy - comfy chairs on a screened porch, and my favorite Shirley Temple in town (they don't stint on the grenadine!) We hung out there for a while and Cassi took off, then we stuck around a bit longer before going next door to Lenny's to catch a little football. By the time we called it a night, it was 11. But it was a blast.

Friday, well the whole weekend really. No excuse. lol. I just slept and ran errands and puttered around in the kitchen. I'm still having trouble getting back into the mood to scrapbook. Maybe eventually.

Today we were back at Craig's for another afternoon off-site.

It was high tide when we got there so before it went out, I went down to stick my feet in the water. I couldn't resist and it felt so good! The weather today was stunningly perfect. And we got stuff done!

We got to a good stopping point so we put the bacon mac 'n cheese I had made into the oven to get hot and bubbly and toast the breadcrumbs, and Craig had some killer sausage smoking on the grill. So since the tide had gone back out, Ryan and I went down to the beach and walked down to the end of the quay where we had some fabulous views.

The pictures don't do it justice. We both looked at each other and were like, kind of hard to believe we actually live here, huh? (All three of us are transplants.)

After that we got a bit more work done, but then the food was ready and we were hungry (and it was like 6pm) so we sat down to a killer dinner. The sausage was amazing - there were like 4 kinds (with grilled peppers to go with) and then both guys got super excited over my mac and cheese. Maybe even a little happy dancing. I love cooking for people who love food... it makes it so fun! And all of us definitely appreciate food.

But we finally cleaned up and packed it in so here I am... trying to get myself back on track. I'm only 3 weeks behind! For now. lol.

This might not be a good idea... two days in a row could be setting some expectations I'm not prepared to meet. lol. But anyway, I managed to get another week for Project Life done tonight. This was one that I've had in my head ever since Gen released this 50 states Photoshop template. When it came out, I already knew I was going to be driving cross-country and the idea has been sitting in my head ever since. I wasn't sure it would come out, but it totally worked and I'm psyched.

Here's the spread:

And the left side which is (obviously) my cross-country drive.

Since I knew I wanted to do something like this, I tried to get a photo of the sign when I crossed the border for each state I drove through. I missed Indiana and the one for Pennsylvania was a bad angle, so I just used some scenic shots of the area I was driving through. For the rest, I got the signs. Then I added in a few spotlight photos of some other things along the way. (The one with the sign saying "we buy antlers" was too funny.) This one took a while since I used the psd, and each state became its own clipping mask. But I love how it turned out. Not bad for a digi amateur!

And the right... since the left was so busy, I kept this one really plain.

So that's it! The week after this one only has a few photos so I'm hoping I can bang out a one-pager tomorrow. But three days in a row might be pushing it... we'll see how it goes!

I'm posting a layout. I know. I bet you thought it wasn't going to happen again any time soon! I'm kind of surprised myself. All I know is I sat down to pre-order the new Muse album and 90 minutes later I'd done that, downloaded 2 songs, and finished a week from Project Life! Not too shabby!

So... here's the first of the weeks I'm trying to catch up on: week 32. This was the week I flew out to house-hunt, packed up my house and loaded the moving truck.

And the left side:

You can see that I'm keeping things pretty simple while I catch up. Just a few basics, lots of photos and journaling. And that's really what it's all about, right? Just the story. I had to force myself to not go nuts, but I'm glad I kept it simple.

Everything is by Gennifer Bursett from Design House Digital.

And I just want to throw out a big "Thank You!!!" to everyone for all your sweet comments here on the blog, on Facebook, and on Instagram. It's been a crazy time so I haven't been doing well with replying to everyone, but I appreciate all the thoughts and well wishes.

Things here are still going pretty well. It's a bit of an adjustment, but I'm getting through. The landlord had a contractor come over the weekend to replace a bunch of my downstairs windows (MUCH needed) which will help keep heat out / in as needed, and which allowed me to put up curtains in the front window. I swear, the temperature in the house has already dropped 7 degrees! Or maybe that's the onset of fall weather. Either way, I'm really enjoying being 100% moved in with everything on the walls and windows.

Work is still going really well - I've been coming up to speed pretty quickly and getting a few projects off the ground. I also love hanging out with my co-workers. They're all so much fun. We've done a few happy hours and that sort of thing, and we've all laughed so hard we had headaches and in a few cases, the threat of losing a lung. We're even talking about a few road trips, so it's fun to have people to hang out with now and then. My new ward is nice - welcoming and enjoyable, and I'm slowly meeting people at church. There don't seem to be any other singles in my age group, but one sweet older lady is trying to help me connect with someone who does mid-singles in the New Haven area. So we'll see how that goes.

Well, it's time to let the cat out of the bag about all the lack of detail lately... lol. There are still blurred sections in this week's Project Life layout, but that's just to keep names and personal information private. The rest... well... like I said. Big changes coming!

So. Six weeks ago, I was driving to work in the morning, thinking about how great my job was, how excited I was about what I was working on, how cool the people were, and how I could see myself there for a long time. And about 2pm that same day, the CEO called me into his office to let me know that a recent company acquisition (and another bid for venture capital... unsaid, but let's not kid ourselves) had made mine and a few other positions obsolete. Well that sucked. But whatever. No sense crying over spilled milk, right? I was applying for jobs that very afternoon and had my first interview booked the next day. I knew it was a risk going to a start-up, and I don't regret it for a minute. It was a great experience, and I can honestly say that without it, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to go where I'm going next. And next is exciting :)

At this point, you're probably putting 2 and 2 together and thinking of those pictures I posted from a trip to Connecticut last week. And you'd be right! Actually, last week I was in Connecticut and North Carolina. And that leads me to...

Yup... a 2-pager! I just looked. The last time I had a 2-page layout was week 17. I'm sure I'll have a few more coming in the near future...

Everything I used this week is from Design House Digital, and most is from Gennifer Bursett. A few iPhone photos from the week and a LOT to say, of course! It was a very fast, exhausting, and pretty much awesome week.

I decided to dedicate an entire page to a small sample of my "ephemera" from the trip and what followed. Ticket stubs, business cards from people I interviewed with, the interview schedule for my visit in North Carolina, and a copy of the offer letter I received for my new job in Connecticut. I kid you not... the time from my first interview to the offer letter was exactly a week. I give credit to a great recruiter, but also to things that seem meant to be just falling into place. And I can't wait. So... the next few weeks are going to be CRAZY. I've already booked another trip out to find a place to live... I have appointments to view housing, appointments for moving companies to come give me quotes... and I've been doing a ton of cleaning and organizing to get ready to pack everything up - probably sometime late next week. I'm sure the time is going to go zipping by, but I think I'll make it. As long as I can get the movers lined up and find a place to send them, the rest should fall into place. And then, it's the start of another adventure! I'm looking forward to getting to know the area and meeting new people. But first, gotta do the hard stuff. So if I'm not posting a lot over the next few weeks, you know where I am :)

Whew... this was a crazy week! I've been super busy, but it's all good stuff. I didn't mean to go a whole week without posting anything, but it happens.

All the digi elements are from Design House Digital - lots from Gennifer Bursett, also some from Kate Teague, Audrey Neal and Robyn Meierotto. And I used a blog hop kit (the yellow flowers and a few other goodies) which is one of my all time favorites.

This week I tried to get back on track with my healthy eating (still exercising too) and did pretty well. Of course, I splurged this weekend with a trip to Dippidee for a cupcake and a few cookies... I had to celebrate a great week, of course! And I finally saw Spiderman, which I really liked. Of course, I like Emma Stone in just about anything.

I've got another project in the works - a mini album. I printed out all the photos and started pulling supplies, but the next few days are super crazy so I hope I can get to it soon. Maybe this weekend? We'll see.

Still kicking! Last week was relatively quiet... but somehow still incredibly busy. How does that work?

I used a template from Tiffany Tillman and everything else is from Gennifer Bursett. That giant Snickerdoodle is a recipe I found on Pinterest last week... it makes one gigantic cookie. Aside from the fact that the recipe calls for too much salt for my taste, it was delicious. I'll definitely do it again! I like having a recipe for something that doesn't make 3 dozen cookies to sit around and tempt me. lol.

This week I finally finished taking pictures of the last of the stuff I'm going to try and sell on KSL. Mostly rubber stamps and brass embossing templates. I'm not sure any of it will go, but we'll see, right?

I'm starting to get off schedule with these! But I did manage to get last week done. Mostly photos from celebrating the 4th with my aunt and uncle and some of my cousins - they were visiting from California. We had a lot of fun and it was good to see them.

Most of the supplies are from the Serendipity kit by Paislee Press, along with the kraft backgrounds / frames by Three Paper Peonies (called My Life in Photos). I also used the Elemental Snippy Alphabet by Gennifer Bursett.

And I'm all caught up! I was able to pull this layout together really quickly since I had already done my travel journal. So I picked a few photos from the trip that were representative of the week, added a little journaling, and voila!

I'm kind of liking these simpler PL layouts that are mostly words and photos with a little embellishing. They're definitely faster and easier! And I like how they look. Anyway... now that I'm caught up, I'm off to try and work on some other projects. I'm still listing sale lots on KSL (not going as fast as I'd like... argh.) and trying to catch up on all of the online classes that I've fallen behind in. Good thing they're all self paced!

Just doing a little catching up with my Project Life layouts... I was able to get week 25 finished up and ready to go. Now I just need to do last week and I'll be back on track!

Here's the week before last:

Since I covered my drive out to California and my time there with my family in my travel journal (yesterday's post), I'm just touching on some highlights in my Project Life layouts and referring to my journal.

And those yummy looking things in the top right corner? I was trying to use up all my produce before leaving for vacation and had a bunch of blueberries. I also had some wonton wrappers in my freezer, so I defrosted them and used them to make blueberry dessert ravioli.

I was just making a single serving at a time, so I took a big handful of blueberries and put them in a bowl, then mashed them up a bit with a fork. I added about 1 tsp of sugar and mixed it, then let it sit for 30 minutes or so. I lined up the wonton wrappers and scooped a heaping teaspoon of blueberries into the center of one, then used a pastry brush to coat the other side with just water. I covered up the other side and sealed it. When they were done, I put them in a sautee pan with a little butter and just a touch of vegetable oil (to help keep the butter from burning). I sauteed them until they were brown on both sides, then sprinkled some powdered sugar on top and served with fat free Cool Whip. They were delicious... I'll have to make them again!

So I'll preface this by saying last week wasn't my favorite week. lol. Things are a little rough right now but I'm hopeful that it will all resolve itself quickly. Anyway, I wrote quite a lot about some of the low points last week, but I've blurred that part of the journaling... I'm just not quite ready to share any details yet.

The page template is from Karla Dudley and all of the digital elements are from Gennifer Bursett. Her When Skies are Grey kit seemed pretty perfect for this layout!

Anyway, I'm still working on other projects... my Tahoe Scrapbook on the Road should be ready to travel in the near future. I've also sold several lots from all of my purged scrapbook supplies... there's still a lot to go, but I'm making progress, and that's 100 times better than just having it sit in my guest room! I'm still listing new lots, so if you're interested, don't forget to check the link I posted with the first batch of photos. And there's still more to come (a daunting task!)

Wow. I didn't realize it had been a week since I posted. I've been busy at work and with a few little projects at home - I started my travel journal for my family reunion in Tahoe, cooked up some new dishes, and I've been hard at work trying to finish my FBE photobook so I can take it to share with my family. I've done Spain and Greece and I'm halfway through Turkey and it's already longer than my Peru book. But, big trip, lots to see, lots of photos. I'm just trying not to think about the price tag on this sucker... lol.

Anyway, here's the layout for last week. Mostly Instagram photos and a few others, bits of journaling about the week.

I used a pocket protector template from Tiffany Tillman at Design House Digital and most of the rest of the elements are from a collab kit at OScraps called For the Record by Paislee Press and One Little Bird (love their collabs!) I also used a set of torn paper templates I've had forever to do the torn ticket stubs. They're from Traci Sims, but I can't remember where I got them - it was over 5 years ago (I didn't realize I'd been dabbling in digi that long!)

As you can see, last week was about food and movies. lol. I did a good bit of cooking including a yummy curried spelt with veggies and chicken. Last week was also about a continuing struggle with what I finally realized were withdrawl symptoms from when I finally stopped taking Metabolife a few weeks ago. I've been super tired, craving carbs like a mad woman, and I've had miserable, painful, want-to-bang-your-head-against-the-wall headaches that no amount of medicine could touch. The essential oils actually help a little, and now the worst of the headaches are finally gone. I'm still very tired, but the cravings are starting to get better too. I just decided I didn't want to be taking chemicals that were going to do who knows what over time, and I don't think I realized exactly how much caffeine was in those suckers. But it's getting better.

Anyway, time for me to go crash. Things have been getting busy at work lately so I need to get some sleep to get ready for tomorrow! Later!

Another one-pager this week, although I probably should have / could have stretched it to two. But it's all good. I'm liking this one - I mixed a ton of different kits on this one and didn't even use a template!

Lots of recent stuff from Gennifer Bursett on this one - Summer Girl, When Skies are Grey, Elemental Snippy Alpha, Elemental frames. I also used more of the Summer Girl part 1 kit from Celeste Knight.

Also, pictures on here from Saturday night out with the Peanuts. We met Brandon at the Karaoke Cafe for a few hours of fun and humiliation (not mine, however. I didn't sing. lol.) Good times.

I wish I'd gotten a good one of Brent doing the sprinkler, but I wasn't fast enough. Shanna and Jana got up to dance in the back, and then another lady from a group we didn't know jumped up with them and really got down. She was awesome - at one point she ran over and shoved some expired Kohl's cash in Chad's pocket - it was pretty funny.

Here's the group... Courtney, Chad, Shawn (I was sitting next to Shawn, Laura was next to Courtney - she and I were taking pictures... Brent was on stage doing Black Sabbath which was a riot). The back table was Mindy and Darren with Kenzie and her friend, and Brandon, Shanna and Jana.

After a few hours at the karaoke place, we headed over to the Cheesecake Factory for a late dinner. We got a big table out on the patio and enjoyed a perfect evening while we just chatted and munched.

(total diet killer, but so good!)

It was a lot of fun, as always! We're looking forward to getting together again soon :)

I didn't think this was a busy week until I looked back at it. I didn't take a lot of pictures, but I got a lot done. I added a few of the pictures I took for some recipes I tried and projects I started, and did the journaling as a bullet list of the things I did last week.

And you can see in the pictures a little update on my curtain project (or experiment, I should say!) I started doing some embroidery on one of the red panels. I still have another one if this doesn't work out, but so far I like it.

I'm no expert in embroidery - I've done very little in the past. I'm doing this without a pattern and the fabric is NOT good quality (I have to set the stitches pretty loose because the weave of the fabric isn't tight enough), so it's going to be interesting. But I like it so far... I'm going to try adding a little beading, I think. I tried a few beads and they were too big, but I have some smaller ones I think will work well.

I have to say, I so didn't want to do this this week. Of course, that's because doing anything takes way more energy than I want to use. lol. I am sick as a dog and pretty much miserable. I've been in bed or close to it since Saturday evening with a yucky, awful cold. It's mostly my own fault for going too long without catching up on my sleep, but what can I say? Too late now! But seriously... how it it possible to have a stuffed AND runny nose all at once? I don't know. But it's not fun.

In any case, I crawled up into the attic to spend a few minutes at the computer and pulled together the layout for last week. Fast, simple. Done.

I think it's now time to search out some more meds and crawl back into bed. Sigh.

Popping in quickly with the layout for last week... just a one-pager this week since the weekend was the main event and I'll probably do a separate layout about the Doodlebug event.

I used a template by Agnes Biro and the new Design House Digital collaboration kit - Retrospect (free with the coupon code from the blog hop!) I've said repeatedly that I'm not really a digi scrapper, but I'd like to note that I successfully blended two patterned papers for the background on this one. High fives to me! Now if I can remember how to do it for next time... I have a feeling it's like threading the bobbin on my sewing machine - I'll need instructions every.single.time. But I guess that's okay.

Anyway, I got caught up reading a book and got a late start on my layout, so no more time for playing tonight... off to bed! Hopefully I can get back to getting messy tomorrow :)

Yup, this week had an unexpected bonus! It makes me really glad I started my Week in the Life project on Saturday... still plenty more to come about this weekend.

In the meantime, I came down with something funky late Thursday night - to the extent where I had to sleep with the big puke bowl next to my bed. You know the one... not used, but I was miserable all the same. I thought I was feeling better on Friday morning but I was sitting in a meeting just before 10am and it came back again as bad as ever. I stuck it out a few more hours, but my boss sent me home. I stopped at the store looking for diet ginger ale (which they didn't have... argh!) and chicken soup and saltines. I was pretty much out of it until late Friday night. Saturday I woke up around 4am suddenly feeling fine. Went back to sleep and barely got up in time to go volunteer at Bountiful Baskets (which I only did because I was better and I'm positive that I was sick from something I ate and not a bug).

Then I saw a text I'd missed from Melody inviting me to go to the City Creek Macy's to see Clinton Kelly. I had a ton of stuff I should have been doing, but hello. I love What Not to Wear so I decided to go make a day of it. We saw him and the fashion show and then I got to meet him and get his autograph in a copy of his book. We had a lovely little chat - he was delightful, and just as fun in person as on tv. After that we did some shopping - Sephora, the Loft... a very late lunch at Kneaders - an all around fun day during which I spent way too much money. lol.

Just a few photos - more will be coming when I do my week in the life spread for Saturday - I'm already behind!!!

They took our bags and personal belongings before it was our turn and gave them back after, so no photos with him. But since I went before Melody I got my bag back in time to get a few photos of her and the kids.

And one of me so you know I really was there. lol.

Fortunately he couldn't see that I was wearing flip flops from where he was sitting. I know... total no-no. But my arthritis was bugging me so it was that or tennis shoes. Which would you pick? At least this way you could see my cute pedicure. lol.

There are more pictures, but I need to edit them for AWITL. Until then...

Here's last week's spread:

And the individual pages:

I used mostly Paislee Press digi elements this week although the templates are Tiffany Tillman again and the cardstock is Gennifer Bursett.

Pretty simple again this week - another one-pager, but I changed up the format... I went back to a Becky Higgins digital template, but flipped it 90 degrees and moved a few things around to work better with my photos.

This also happens to be a little sneaky peek of an awesome kit coming from Gennifer Bursett on Thursday. I also mixed in some older kits - Sweet Child of Mine Girl for the doily, Favorite Things for the flower and ribbon, Writer's Block Weekly Journaling cards for the title and 3x4 cards, and Grandma's Easter Bonnet for the tape.

I keep thinking that I wish I was doing the paper version of this project, but then I think about how the page protectors are super expensive, the albums are bulky, I can't rotate the page protectors like I can a digital template, and how it would take me sooooo much longer. I think if I do this again next year I might do something monthly instead and just hit the highlights. We'll see... gotta get through this year first!

Next I was going to start working on my new sketch from my Sketchbook class, but suddenly I'm just exhausted... maybe I'll hold off until tomorrow. It's an awesome sketch, but I didn't have any ideas for it yet so it's probably smarter to get some sleep, huh?

Yup, my much anticipated box with my April kit and add-ons plus a few other goodies I got in the last chance sale arrived on my porch today.

Isn't it beautiful? Sigh.

Add to that the new sketch that went up in my Sketchbook 4 class today, and I was dying to jump in and start playing. But, I forced myself to set it aside until after I'd finished up my Project Life layout for the week. Incentive to plow through it quickly :)

This week is just one page. I'm not sure if that was a result of a quiet week or laziness on my part in avoiding a 2-page spread this week. Either way... here's this week's layout:

I used a template from Karla Dudley's Life Templates 2 set for the base of the page (which I tweaked), and Build it Up by Agnes Biro for the chevron stips - they're masks. Everything else is from Gennifer Bursett:

Not a lot of pictures this week, but quite a bit I wanted to write. Mostly about stuff going on at work and a fun outing we had on Friday afternoon. We took a short walk over to the Grand America during lunch to visit the toy store and pastry shop. It was a lot of fun.

And I had to show off my new sandals (picked up Friday at Target) and pedicure (Saturday mani-pedi between conference sessions) as we start to see the spring weather here in Utah. It cooled off again on Sunday, so I need to wait another day or two before it warms up enough to wear them to work. But it was so lovely to go to the salon and have my hands and feet pampered.

And those macarons? Divine. It makes me itch to get out my macaron supplies and make some this weekend. We'll see... I've got tons of stuff on my to-do list, but maybe if I make good progress that can be a reward :)